Urban Thermal Environment under Global Warming Pressure

Dear Colleagues,

Urban agglomerations combine into one body, the cause and the impact, simultaneously. The cause, on one hand, is that the urban environment is itself responsible for the modification of the microclimate via heat release (urban heat island) and air polluting emissions due to anthropogenic activities. On the other hand, the greenhouse effect is forcing a warmer climate, and it exacerbates the already adverse environmental conditions in a city. The impact triggered by the aforementioned causes concerns the quality of life and public health. Thus, it is clear that urban areas influence/control the final state of the thermal environment by means of intensifying extreme weather, such as strong heat stress, convective precipitation, and poor air quality. Given that the thermal urban environment cannot be assessed and quantified by utilizing only one meteorological parameter, such as air temperature, the implementation of complex thermal indices, based on the human energy balance model, should be considered to reach reliable results. Towards this objective, this Special Issue aims at compiling state-of-the-art work from researchers who focus, but not exclusively so, on the assessment of present and future biometeorological simulations of thermal urban environments and, especially, open areas in a city. In particular, this Special Issue welcomes theoretical and experimental research articles on the following themes, although progress reports on relevant research issues are also acceptable:

• Thermal comfort on the built environment and urban landscapes
• Experimental techniques and biometeorological measurements in an urban area
• Remote sensing methodologies (drones, LiDARs and satellites) on urban climatology
• Urban design and planning towards sustainable cities
• Urban heat island and mitigation strategies
• Global warming and resilience plans for cities
• Modeling of thermal urban environment
• Early warning systems of heat and cold waves designed for urban environments
• Green cities
• Public health and extreme weather (heat and cold waves) in a city
• Air quality and thermal comfort in a city

Prof. Dr. Panagiotis Nastos
Guest Editor

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